


The Love I Sell You in the Evening

by Ahelpfulpeach



Series: She-Ra Canon Universe Stories [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Anxiety, Bow gets appreciated, Comfort, F/F, Friendship, Just after Save the Cat, Light Angst, POV Adora (She-Ra)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24432448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahelpfulpeach/pseuds/Ahelpfulpeach
Summary: In the dark, they can say anything, do anything. As long as it's not mentioned again come morning.Also, Bow gets the appreciation and chance to vent he deserves.
Relationships: Adora & Bow (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: She-Ra Canon Universe Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1763977
Comments: 37
Kudos: 381





	The Love I Sell You in the Evening

**Author's Note:**

> Fairly obvious and also mentioned in the tags, but for anyone keeping track of the timeline for this series, this takes place between S5E5 "Save the Cat" and S5E6 "Taking Control"

“ _I bet once we’re done with training we can do missions together all the time.”_

_“Just us?”_

_“Yeah!” Adora flashed a bright grin, then covered her mouth sheepishly. Their younger squad mates were out that night, on their first overnight guard duty, but that hardly meant they could afford to be loud. Even in places of relative privacy, under cover of darkness, they kept their voices to a whisper._

_Catra trilled quietly, tail curling around Adora’s ankle as she scooted closer. Adora’s grin faltered for a moment; she knew Catra could hear her heart pounding. With only the dim light filtering in from down the hall, all Adora could make out was the fluffy outline of her friend, who’d settled right up against her. The flash of Catra’s eyes startled her when she looked up. Judging by the way they were squinted, Catra was grinning at her._

_Despite the blush coloring her cheeks, Adora grinned right back. She could feel the way Catra had adjusted to be as close as possible on the already narrow bunk._

_“You and me seeing the world… I’d like that. If Shadow Weaver would ever allow it,” Catra’s tone grew dark, a growl rumbling at the edges of her words. Adora frowned and ran a hand down Catra’s spine, stroking over and over again through the short fur that was standing on end between her sports bra and shorts. Even that little, comforting gesture, something Adora had done a thousand times, felt different, more intimate during these nighttime conversations._

_Not that she’d ever say so._

_“She knows we work well together, and that your scores are just as good as mine—sometimes better!” Adora shifted, wrapping her arm around Catra’s shoulders, “Besides, she… she doesn’t matter right now, right?”_

_“Doesn’t ever, but yeah, right.”_

_Adora smiled and gave her a squeeze. The last thing she wanted to talk about right now was Shadow Weaver._

_She settled in, leaning back against the wall, giving Catra a more steady surface to… well there really wasn’t another word for it, to cuddle up to. Her tail coiled just a little tighter around Adora’s leg, a gesture that simultaneously sent a shiver up her spine and encouraged her shoulders to relax._

_“Where would you wanna go?” Adora asked after a moment, “If we could go anywhere?”_

_Catra took her time trying to come up with an answer before shrugging and nestling her head against Adora’s shoulder, “Wherever. As long as it’s away from here… As long as it’s with you.”_

_Adora was positive she wasn’t supposed to hear that last part, Catra had said it so quietly, barely louder than a breath. But then. The way she tensed against her a moment. Well. This was the game, right? These little half confessions, whispered or written or implied, understood by both of them with the unspoken agreement that they wouldn’t push further. Wouldn’t ask. Wouldn’t clarify._

_Adora nodded, allowing the arm draped around Catra to squeeze the tiniest bit. Not a response, not really. Just a twitch of muscle. But Catra relaxed again, and Adora knew she got the signal._

_“I kinda want to see the Whispering Woods. They’re so… spooky. It’d be fun to try and spend a night there, see who freaks out first,” She grinned, feeling her own body unwind as she dragged the conversation from dangerous waters._

_Catra paused, then laughed—quietly, always quietly—as she bonked her head against Adora’s chin in a somewhat violent take on nuzzling. Adora hissed in pain; the jolt had made her bite her own lip a little harder than she’d originally intended. Catra pulled back at the noise as Adora lifted a hand to her face, fingers wet as she pulled away. Great. Looks like clumsy Adora split her lip on a locker door or something. Certainly not while in bed, practically cuddling her best friend. No sir._

_“Shit, I’m sorry,” even though she couldn’t really see, Adora could imagine Catra’s contrite look, unable to make eye contact, ears pinned, tail lashing. That part she could actually hear in the soft rustling of the blankets. What she didn’t expect was the furry hand on her face, or the fingers swiping over her bleeding lip._

_“Wow. Uh. Really got you, huh?” Catra murmured after a too long, too charged moment. Adora could hear and feel Catra pull away, watching her outline dip over the edge of the bed. She had to admit, she was a bit jealous of Catra’s flexibility. They’d both been able to contort themselves into stupid shapes as kids, but Adora’s growth spurt had come with a certain awkward ungainliness, while Catra, even as she got taller, seemed to retain her grace. Maybe it was a magicat thing._

_Either way, Adora realized she’d been staring the whole time Catra was rooting around under the bed, and that she was about to get caught. But the dark gave her an excuse._

_The glow of Catra’s eyes announced her return, the slight narrowing let Adora know Catra had seen her. The feeling of warmth and fur pressed against her side again let her know Catra wouldn’t push it, not even in the safety of this night alone._

_“Found some gauze,” she whispered, her voice sounding just a little strained in a way Adora couldn’t quite identify. Again, the feeling of hands on her face, her cheeks heating up beneath them. The feeling of fingers on her lips, pressing a little wad of gauze against the split, holding it there until it stuck of its own accord._

_“There. Not gonna have you bleed all over the bed.”_

_Adora snorted. The moment had passed, Catra’s hands were back out of sight, and she could only imagine how stupid she must look with a big wad of cotton sticking off her lip._

_“T’anks,” she mumbled, doing her best to avoid knocking off the makeshift bandage with her talking._

_“Don’t mention it. We take care of each other. Even if it’s stupid shit like this,” Catra said, letting out a just slightly too loud squeak of a laugh. They both froze; Adora didn’t have to see her to know Catra’s eyes were on the doorway, same as hers. But no heavy footfalls, no unearthly breeze announced the approach of the night watch or their seemingly never sleeping guardian._

_“_ _We should… probably sleep,” Adora murmured, some of the wind taken out of her sails. Her heart was still pounding, but not in the fun way anymore. The fear of being caught, even though nothing was going on,_ _not really. Catra nodded, or Adora assumed she must have, because she felt her move away from the wall, settling behind her as she lay down. After one too many accidental night time assaults, Catra had put a moratorium on laying face to face._

And now, here they were. More or less face to face in the dim room on Mara’s ship—or Darla now, she supposed—Catra slumped on her side, comatose, Adora across from her in a chair. She’d gripped Catra’s hand and hadn’t let go since she entered the room. It wasn’t the first time Adora had wondered what might have happened, what might have changed if those little omissions were voiced. But come morning neither of them had the guts to bring it up. It would ruin the game, after all.

But god, a ruined game would have been worth it if it meant Catra hadn’t ended up like this. Nearly dying. Captured. Chipped. _Converted_. Adora shuddered and gripped Catra’s hand just a little tighter. No. She was ok now. She was safe, she was with them, she would be alright. Entrapta was a genius, she could get the chip out. Had to. And until she did, Adora would pour every ounce of She-Ra magic into Catra to keep her. She wasn’t going to lose her again.

Light spilled into the room.

Adora jerked back, already on her feet when she realized it was just Bow. Sweet, gentle Bow, with his arms full of blankets, nudging the door open with his foot.

“Whoa! Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Just,” he hefted the pile in explanation, “Thought these might come in handy.” Adora nodded mutely, doing her best to slow her racing heart before she spoke. Bow seemed to take it as a go ahead and walked in, setting the pile down.

Once he was no longer obfuscated by a two foot tall tower of comforters, Adora noticed Bow looked… off. Strained. This was all but confirmed when, instead of heading out to pilot the ship as he’d been doing pretty much the whole time, he slumped into the chair Adora had vacated. Frowning, Adora sat across from him, on Catra’s bed as the door swung shut.

“What’s up?” Internally, Adora groaned. Great start, very sensitive, “You uh. You seem down.”

Bow, to her chagrin, didn’t make it easy, shrugging, “It’s just. A lot.”

Adora nodded, chewing on her lip as she fiddled with the blanket tower, intent on at least making it a more serviceable blanket nest. After a moment, though, she paused, turning back to her friend. This was _Bow._ Feelings guy. Friendship master. One of her best friends. Whatever nostalgia hangups she had could wait a second, clearly he needed something.

“Wanna talk about it?” she asked, nudging one of his knees with her own. She could see Bow hesitate, and while she couldn’t read him like Glimmer could, or like she could read Catra, it was clear enough he was searching for words. Finally, he looked up, making eye contact, making Adora’s heart break a little. She’d never seen him look quite so sad, so lost.

“I just want things to be normal again,” he whispered, his voice hoarse, “I want _us_ to be normal again. Me and Glimmer. The three of us. But,” he frowned, ducking his head. He looked almost ashamed.

“I’m still mad. About what happened. About Glimmer. At Glimmer,” he met Adora’s eyes again, his expression almost pleading, “I don’t want to be. I hate feeling like this. I’m mad at myself for still being mad. I just…” He trailed off helplessly.

Adora nodded again, feeling herself soften from strained confusion to empathy. Yeah. She could get that.

“It’s ok, Bow. I’m still kinda mad. At Glimmer. Too. Uh.” Adora grimaced at her own fumbling, but true to form, kept stumbling through without a plan. She’d figure it out on the way, right?

“It’s hard. She. She did a lot of messed up stuff. Like. _Really_ bad at the end. And she hurt, uh, us. But I think she’s trying to fix things. Even if she doesn’t know how. And she’s probably gonna mess up more on her way to figuring out how to be with us. Be back. But she’s our friend and she has been for so long and I just am happy to have her back and safe and… uh…Friends. And stuff.” Adora trailed off, having kind of lost her train of thought halfway through her speech. Thankfully, Bow was nodding. Good. Whatever verbal diarrhea she spewed must have meant something.

“Yeah,” Bow laughed weakly, “Yeah. They are our friends.” Bow nodded to the bed behind her, to Catra.

Well. Shit. This was _supposed_ to be about supporting Bow. But she can’t help but laugh a little, at the situation, how ridiculous the whole thing was. They were in _space_ for crying out loud, and here they were, worrying over relationships, friendships, that would likely be mended. Or at least, Adora hoped they would.

Bow smiled, but like he pitied her. Pitied them both, really, “We sure know how to pick ‘em, huh?”

Adora snorted, if in part because it felt so weird, startling even, for Bow to be so sardonic. But she couldn’t disagree. So instead she shoved him lightly, shaking her head with a sigh. What she thought was a twitching ear in the corner of her vision caught her attention, but when she turned to look at Catra, she remained as she had been, motionless, only the sound of her breathing and slight rise and fall of her chest indicating she was with them at all.

Tearing her eyes away, Adora brought her attention back to Bow, to the friend she could, hopefully, actually do something for right then. Despite their laughter, he still seemed down. Adora reached out, a hand on his knee. She couldn’t quite find the words, just hoped her face could convey the concern she had.

It seemed to work. Bow shrugged and sighed, pausing again, like he did when he was gearing up for a speech. Though Adora expected this to be less motivational than usual.

“It makes me feel like a bad friend. I’ve known her for so long; we’ve been friends for so long. We've gone through so much. And I forgive her. But I’m mad and I feel awful about it, even though I know I shouldn’t. Glimmer even said herself that I can be mad as long as I need. But knowing that and feeling it are different, you know?”

Adora nodded emphatically, “Believe me. I know,” she shifted, both hands on Bows shoulders, like she was trying to brace him.

“But you’re not a bad friend. You’re a great friend! Probably the best at this whole friend thing out of the lot of us,” Adora could feel herself starting to ramble, but the wheels had started rolling and she was just on for the ride. Whatever it took to make him feel better.

“You’ve done—you still do so much for us. Holding things together, coming up with plans, making sure I sleep sometimes. Bow, I wouldn’t have gotten here without the best friend squad. Without you. I’d probably be strung out, half dead, refusing to sleep but you didn’t give up on me even if I’m a stubborn piece of shit sometimes. And you didn’t give up on Glimmer. And I just. I want you to be happy. I want to help. And I don’t really know how, but I care about you, Bow. I love you, Glimmer loves you. We aren’t always the best at showing it but you are one of our best friends. And maybe now things will be better than the old normal? Because now we know that we kinda suck at showing you how much we value you, so we can try to fix it. And we’re talking and we’re together again and that’s. That’s good.”

Adora was running out of steam, but thankfully her desperate attempt at earnestness seemed to work. Sort of. Bow was laughing. But he was also crying. He smiled at Adora, and she really hoped those were happy tears as she pulled him into a hug. They stayed like that a moment Adora relaxing more than she had in a while. Ok. Apparently she had needed a hug too, duly noted.

“The four of use really are quite the set,” Bow laughed as they pulled apart.

Adora snorted, unable to disagree, but her voice was still warm, “We are. We’ve all kinda messed up. But we love each othe—er, well,” Adora blushed, trying to find the right words, “We. Uh. I. I love all of you. You guys love each other. And me. I hope. I mean, I guess I shouldn’t speak for you but we’re friends and yeah. Uh. I mean. I’d be surprised if you guys could love Catra already but I don’t know your brains and yeah.” She was a mess, and apparently unable to speak without struggling her way through some half baked declaration of love and friendship. And it wasn’t like she didn’t mean it, she did. She just apparently couldn’t get back into her head enough to make her speeches sound good.

Luckily, Bow was the sort to get it anyway.

“Yeah. We love each other, and we can figure this out together.” Ah, ok. He didn’t just get it, he _got_ it. His voice was just so warm and his eyes so soft, there was no mistaking he understood the fumbled confession in there. But he also seemed to get the game, or maybe he just knew it wasn’t the time. Either way, he didn’t push it.

The two of them were quiet for a moment, processing. Adora turned away so she could _do_ something, use her hands, move, anything to use up some of this nervous energy. And maybe tucking Catra in with the biggest, fluffiest blanket wasn’t exactly physically taxing, but at least it made her feel useful.

“What about you?” Adora started at Bow’s voice, earning an apologetic grin from him before he continued, “How are you doing? I haven’t seen you take a break since we got back from Prime’s ship.”

Adora shrugged with a weak grin, “You know me. Lots of stuff to do. But I’m fine.”

Apparently that was the wrong answer; Bow frowned.

“Adora. We’ve talked about this. A lot. You need to rest, and let other people, let your friends take care of you too.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m… I’m trying.” She wanted to help. Needed to help. That was her job, her duty. But she didn’t want to make her friends worry either.

“I know you are. I just worry,” Adora winced, and Bow continued, a gentle hand on her arm, “For all your magical healing powers, you really kinda. Kinda suck at taking care of yourself.”

“You’re one to talk!” Adora grinned at him, relaxing just a bit at his more teasing tone, but her eyes betrayed her concern, “Even if you can do the easy stuff like eating and sleeping and washing your face and stuff when you’re stressed, you never _tell_ us you are.”

Bow laughed a little, then turned away, “I know I just. I don’t want it to hurt you and Glimmer. You worry so much already and Glimmer. Well. She tries really hard, always has, but she gets down when what she does doesn’t fix things and she can’t figure out what will. And it’s not her fault, sometimes it’s just stuff that takes time but… I don’t want to hurt you guys trying to help myself, you know?”

Adora took his hands, smiling weakly, “Believe me, I know. I get it. But. Maybe we can try? You’re always saying we’re not alone. And we probably won’t be great at it, I know I won’t be, but between all of us we can try to _make_ the better normal?”

Bow smiled at that, nodding slowly, “Yeah. Yeah we can. You’re not as bad at this motivational friendship stuff as you think you are, you know?”

“I learned from the best.”

Bow was glowing, eyes shining with what Adora was now pretty certain were happy tears. He stood, giving Adora’s shoulder a squeeze.

“Thanks. Really. I needed this. I’m gonna go check on Entrapta though, I asked her to keep an eye on the controls, figure I should get back to it so she can keep searching for signals.” He started on his way out, opening the door. Light poured in, illuminating the bed, where Adora had turned back to Catra, started lightly stroking her hair.

Bow paused in the doorway, and Adora could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke, “I think we can make a better normal with Catra too.”

Adora smiled, tearful eyes still glued to Catra, taking one of her hands in her own. She heard Bow walk away, could faintly hear the sounds of the others moving around the ship. But even with those footfalls, even with the light on them, Adora stayed put, holding on to Catra’s hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Lua" by Bright Eyes  
> Based on the weird feeling the morning after a sleepover. You know, where everything feels a little off? Life Is Strange captured that feeling so perfectly and this song played and now I associate it with that feeling.
> 
> Also, posting schedule who? Don't know her.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy! If you're on there, I'm also very active on Tumblr @ahelpfulpeach.


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